Providing management and security features in radio communication systems such as cellular telecommunication networks often involves locking of equipment or information stored thereon to discourage or decrease undesired activities, such as equipment theft, misappropriation, fraud, or the like. Terminal equipment, such as mobile equipment, radiotelephone handsets or remote machine type communication (MTC) equipment deployed in the field and operatively coupled to a radio communication network or base station thereof may be particularly susceptible to such activities.
In several systems, terminal equipment is configured to operate in conjunction with a removable card containing an identity module entity therein, such as a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card. UICC or the like. Strategies for providing management and security features for the terminal equipment, based on the presence of a removable identity module card have been proposed or implemented in radio communication systems.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,141,563 discloses a SIM card secured subscriber unit, such as a radiotelephone handset, which is fully operable only with a SIM card having stored therein a specific signature value. When a SIM card is inserted, the signature value stored thereon is compared against a list of authorized signature values stored in memory of the subscriber unit. If the SIM card is not valid, no use of the subscriber unit is permitted. Thus, associated with each serialized subscriber equipment there is a corresponding serialized SIM card which acts as a key to enable operation of the subscriber unit. This may be used to decrease theft or misappropriation of subscriber units.
In addition, the 3GPP technical standard entitled “Digital cellular telecommunications system (Phase 2+); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Personalization of Mobile Equipment (ME); Mobile functionality specification (3GPP TS 22.02, version 7.2.0 Release 7)” discloses a process for limiting mobile equipment such as a radiotelephone handset, such that the mobile equipment is only usable with a limited set of identity module cards. In an initial personalization process, codes are stored in the mobile equipment. For example, the codes may be read from an identity module card inserted during initial personalization or programmed during manufacture or initial set-up of the mobile equipment. Subsequently, whenever an identity module card is inserted, or the mobile equipment is powered up, codes are read from the identity module and checked against the codes stored in the mobile equipment during initial personalization. If there is no match then the mobile equipment is restricted to emergency calls only. Personalization may discourage theft of mobile equipment or use of mobile equipment on unauthorized networks or regions, by locking mobile equipment for use only with specified identity modules or groups thereof.
However, neither of the above approaches facilitates providing adequate management or security for identity module equipment such as UICCs, or information stored thereon.
In some approaches, Personal Identification Number (PIN) locking mechanisms are used to safeguard against theft of identity modules or identity module cards, such as UICCs, and associated terminal equipment. A PIN locking mechanism uses one or more numeric passwords, wherein a user is required to enter a PIN code upon device power-up in order to access full device functionality. However, PIN locking mechanisms rely on a human user to remember and enter a PIN, which may not be appropriate in some cases, for example when a user forgets the PIN, or when the terminal equipment is not immediately associated with a user.
MTC terminal equipment, for example used in remote, unmanned monitoring or other automated or semi-automated operations, typically does not require a local user in operation. In this case there is no user to enter a PIN upon device power-up. Therefore, to implement a PIN locking mechanism, an MTC terminal equipment would be required to itself enter the PIN upon power-up. Although this is possible with added complexity to the MTC terminal equipment, the management of different PIN codes for each MTC terminal equipment would be difficult or even unworkable. Furthermore, if the same PIN code were used for multiple or all MTC terminal equipments, the PIN locking mechanism would lose most of its provided security. Finally, since the PIN would be stored on the MTC terminal equipment, it may be possible to extract the PIN upon theft of the MTC terminal equipment.
Furthermore, MTC terminal equipments, such as remote metering devices, are often located in remote areas and without surveillance after installation. The remote locales make this type of equipment more susceptible to tampering by unauthorised persons. The tampering of the MTC terminal equipment is often accompanied by damage to the metering device. Furthermore, theft or fraudulent modification of an MTC terminal equipment or associated identity module card, such as a UICC, may not be detected and reported as quickly as would be typical for a traditional user-operated device. As detection of fraudulent use of an identity module card is difficult, fraud will likely occur and last until vandalism and theft of the identity module card is detected.
Therefore there is a need for a solution that overcomes at least one of the deficiencies in the art.
This background information is provided to reveal information believed by the applicant to be of possible relevance to the present invention. No admission is necessarily intended, nor should be construed, that any of the preceding information constitutes prior art against the present invention.